by Violet Paige
“Thank you?”
She smiled. It was the first time she looked less sinister. I wondered if it was the bright pink dress. It made her feel more real. More like Aubrey and me.
“I’d like for you to consider working at the office.” She stopped my immediate protest. “Uh. Uh. Hear me out. I think office training would be a good fit for you. Maybe we could have coffee this week to discuss it.”
“I’m not sure what to say.” I was dumbfounded.
“At least agree to coffee. You do love Marie’s.” She waited for my response.
I nodded. “I do. It’s my favorite in the city.”
“Ok. Coffee this week and I’ll bring along more details. I think this will be a good fit for you. Suitable with your skill set.”
“All right.”
“Tell Leo I said goodnight.” She heaved the long train, embroidered with fuchsia flowers, into her arms.
“I will.”
I had a new level of relief when I witnessed her departure in a chauffeured car a few minutes later. Vaughn had been right. She was here either to scope out new clients or was doing work for a current one.
Never once did she let on that she knew our plan. I couldn’t believe it.
“I’m back,” Aubrey announced. “Where’s my husband?”
Paul and Vaughn walked toward us and we filed into the coat check line. There were several couples in front of us, but most of the attendees had filtered outside and were being shuttled into limousines.
Once I had my fur wrap, Vaughn cleared his throat.
“I have a surprise for my wife.”
“Ohh?” Aubrey was tipsier than she had been all night.
He revealed a key from inside his tuxedo. “I reserved a room for us. A surprise overnight vacation.”
“What?” I pretended to be stunned. Was it over the top? I didn’t know.
“Oh my God, that’s so romantic.” Aubrey looked at Paul, who seemed uninterested in the gesture. I thought she might be waiting for him to make the same offer.
“We’re staying here tonight?”
Vaughn nodded. “And I’ve ordered room service for breakfast. All your favorites.” He pulled me against him. “We won’t be home any time soon.”
I looked in his eyes. “It sounds perfect. I can’t believe you did this. But I didn’t pack anything.”
“You don’t need clothes.” He winked. Shit. This was for show, but it was revealing and intimate to act this way in front of our friends.
“Holy fuck,” Aubrey whispered. I’d never heard her swear like that before.
He laughed, taking my hand. He turned to Paul. “Thanks for an amazing evening, but I think I’m going to take my wife upstairs now. Sorry I didn’t mention it sooner, but I wanted to surprise Kate.”
“I understand. Thank you for coming,” Paul answered. “I appreciate your generosity. The money is going to change children’s lives, and there is nothing more honorable than that.” He slapped Vaughn on the shoulder. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, friends.”
Kate hugged me. “Lucky, lucky you. No clothes?” she giggled.
I smiled. “I am incredibly lucky. You are too. You and Paul have something I hope we have in ten years.”
“Ten?” She cocked her head to the side.
“Eight,” I corrected. “You know, after we’ve been married for ten years.” I pulled her in for another hug. She’d never forgive me, and I understood. “Goodbye,” I whispered.
Paul waved goodnight and guided her through the doors.
A few of the guests milled about the ballroom. We walked past, casually, as if we weren’t headed for the single most life-altering act of our lives.
“I can’t wait for you to see the suite,” Vaughn gushed. “The bed is huge.” His voice was loud. I blushed, realizing everyone who heard him thought we were headed for a night of insanely hot drunken sex. Any other night, that would be true.
I gripped the stole at my breastbone. I’d had bare shoulders all night and felt warm with the wrap covering my skin. We waded through more guests before stepping onto the elevator.
Just as the doors began to slide closed, my gaze landed on a familiar face. A face I had convinced myself I’d never see again. His eyes lifted to mine, confirming what I already knew. Those were eyes I could never forget. Pale gray, watery eyes that always seemed incapable of emotion.
My nails dug into Vaughn’s palm.
Agent Kenneth pushed toward me. “Emily!” he cried out as the doors closed.
“Fuck. A buddy of yours?” Vaughn gritted his teeth. He tapped more buttons. I watched in horror as the doors retracted and closed for two more floors before we finally landed on our own.
“Oh my God. That was Agent Kenneth. He’s half a day early. What do we do? What are we going to do? He’s here. He isn’t supposed to be here.”
As soon as the doors opened he pulled me along the hall. “We run.”
We stepped off, sending the elevator to hit every floor from here to the top of the hotel.
He shoved the key into the lock and threw open the door. Our bags were packed and waiting near the dresser. Our changes of clothes were laid out on the bed. I spun for Vaughn to unzip the gown. I’d never struggled like this to keep my body moving forward. Something in the back of my head told me to just surrender. To collapse and let Agent Kenneth take me.
But every time I looked at Vaughn I remembered I was the light. I couldn’t collapse now.
I kicked off my high heels and pulled on the black T-shirt and pair of jeans we had bought at the mall the week before. I released the pins from my hair, tugged my bun low enough that I could adjust a blond wig on top. Vaughn fit a ball cap on my head that matched his.
He strapped a huge belly under his shirt that made him look like he was carrying an extra eighty pounds of fat. There wasn’t enough time to dye his hair. The fat suit was what he was counting on. I tied the laces on a pair of running shoes. I needed them tonight.
“Ready?” He looked at me.
“How are we going to get out if the agents are here?”
He looked at his watch. “It has been four minutes. We can do this. Believe me. We’re faster.”
I nodded. “We can.”
The bag I had packed had an extra strap. I slung it across my body so that my hands were free.
“Oh wait.” I hurried to the glittery clutch I had carried all night.
“Come on. Come on,” Vaughn urged.
I reached inside the purse and grabbed the piece of coral from the nightstand. It was the one thing I had meant to pack earlier.
“Ok. Got it.” I shoved it in my pocket.
We ran to the elevators. I chewed the inside of my cheek as we waited for the doors to open. If federal agents were standing on the other side, we were screwed. The game was over.
I was relieved when an empty elevator arrived. Vaughn tapped the button for the lobby.
We were headed into the lion’s den, but we didn’t have a choice. The stairwell exits would be the first thing they would block. Our best bet was to assume the agents believed we were hiding out in a room somewhere. I prayed they were preparing to search every floor. Every room.
“When the doors open, walk casually. Don’t race. Don’t fidget,” Vaughn instructed.
“Ok,” I whispered.
It was possibly five hundred feet from the elevators to the lobby exit. Never had five hundred feet felt like five thousand miles. I wanted to run. I wanted to use every ounce of energy I had to propel myself faster and farther, but Vaughn’s grip on my hand kept me from sprinting ahead of him.
The steps seemed small. Slow. Agonizing.
We passed the large arrangement of ornate orchids. We moved out of the way for a bellhop. We walked past the doors to the ballroom. The auction items had been packed away and were ready to be delivered to the winners.
I took another breath. Another step.
The coat check was just ahead of us.
The light was
turned off. Everyone was gone from the gala. My expensive fur was upstairs in our room with the gown. When Agent Kenneth discovered the room we had used, he would walk in on a scene that looked as if two people had vanished from inside their clothes. They were in perfect piles where we stepped out of them.
We glided past the counter. The next landmark was the door. Vaughn squeezed my hand. It was right there. Only a few feet away.
The sweat ran under my arms. My throat was locked. My stomach cinched in a vicious knot. Only a few feet. Just four more.
Three.
Two.
One.
Epilogue
It was dark. I couldn’t see. What was happening in there? Was everything all right? Had it been ruined? What if all that work was for nothing? I felt queasy. I didn’t know how I was going to face Vaughn if I had destroyed it.
I flipped on the light and sighed.
“Thank God.” I felt the tension ease from my shoulders and back.
“Everything ok?” Vaughn walked into the kitchen. He dropped a grape into his mouth.
I nodded, opening the oven door. “It’s perfect.”
“Let me get that.” He hustled me out of the way and snatched the oven mitts. I watched as he slid the golden turkey onto the counter. It was crispy in just the right spots.
I grinned.
“Now that’s a Thanksgiving turkey,” he praised the bird.
My hands settled on the sarong that draped around my hips. “It does look good, doesn’t it?”
He eyed me. “I couldn’t be prouder,” he teased.
I slapped his bare chest with the kitchen towel. “Hey, I worked hard for us to have a normal Thanksgiving.”
“I just like that you were willing to cook everything in a bikini.”
I twisted my lips together. It was far from conventional, but at least this year there was a meal that resembled something familiar. Although we were back on another island. This time it was our island. Our home.
I lifted the pineapple from the bowl of fruit.
“When are you going to take a break?” he asked.
“After I cut this pineapple and heat the bread. And oh, I still have potatoes to mash.”
“I think you need to reassess your priorities, Mrs. West.”
I squealed when he scooped me into his arms, tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of sugar, and carried me away from the hours of meal prep.
I kicked. “Put me down. I’m not finished.”
“No, I’m the one who isn’t finished,” he growled. “You were out of bed way too early this morning. I don’t like it when I have to wait.”
I landed on the bed with a bounce. He crawled on top of me, pinning my wrists together with one hand while the other loosened the knot on the sarong. My back arched as he slid the bikini bottoms off my thighs.
“I had work to do,” I explained. “I wanted to do something for you.” My breath hitched in my throat. He had that look in his eyes. The hungry one. The smolder that made my body react on a transcendent level.
“Now it’s my turn.” The darkness in his voice made my belly flip. Oh shit, I loved it when he was like this. I hadn’t expected it in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner.
His kiss was possessive as his mouth covered mine. My lips parted and our tongues twined. He was on a mission. He wasn’t going to let me out of this bed until he had what he wanted.
“You know how much I love to fuck my wife.”
I nodded. “As much as she loves it.” I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t think I’d ever be tired of hearing that word: wife.
It had been almost ten months since we left Paris. And nine since we had been married. Really married. A ceremony. An elegant white dress and a bouquet of white orchids. There were vows. There was music. There was an incredible honeymoon—one that landed us here on this island.
“Don’t move,” he ordered while he stepped off the bed and kicked his board shorts to the other side of the room. He had surfed earlier this morning. All the days in the sun made his skin a beautiful bronze. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him.
I was as still as a deer trying to blend into the woods. I held my breath, but I couldn’t control the way my heart raced when I saw my husband’s gorgeous body. Or the way my core ached for him to soothe it. Or the way my lips felt heavy without his kisses. All the impulses were beyond reason when I knew Vaughn was about to fuck me.
He moved over me steadily. His strong hands clenched my waist.
“Oomph.”
He flipped me on my stomach. I suddenly felt the ties loosen on my top and the rest of the bathing suit was gone. Vaughn cupped my breasts, massaging them as I wiggled my hips back and forth. I baited him. Lured him. Ever pluck of my nipples made me wetter. Needier.
“Fuck,” he groaned, yanking my hair in his hand.
I smiled at him over my shoulder. He winked. God, we were good together.
We had always been good together. From the first kiss outside the D.C. restaurant. From sex on the landing in my apartment building. From the vineyard to the abandoned office in Paris. We had always been a sexual explosion waiting to ignite. The matches were us. I could light him on fire as easily as he could torch me to the ground with one orgasm.
The sunlight filtered in through the wooden blinds. Fan blades spun overhead.
My knees spread wide as Vaughn touched his cock to my heat. I moaned.
He thrust inside me and I kicked back to meet the force of his body. I stretched around the thickness of his shaft.
“Oh shit,” I hissed, not ready for him to go so deep so fast, but there he was. Blinding me with jolts of white lightning. The kind of intensity that seared us together. Forever.
“Oh baby,” he grunted, working up a sweat as he pumped in and out.
I clawed at the bed for more friction. For a base to launch myself. I could take it. Go deeper. Go harder. These were the days I was reminded how amazing it was to be in bed with my husband. Whether it was the middle of a holiday. Or after midnight. Or after we had spent a day working in the yard. After dinner. Before coffee. In the shower. Out of the shower. Our bodies had and always would be bound in a way that was indescribable.
I felt my core quiver and vibrate.
“It’s too much,” I whimpered. I was going to shatter in a glittery orgasm. One of those Eiffel Tower orgasms. I knew what his reponse would be.
“It’s not enough,” he grunted.
“Ohh.” I panted for the climax to hit me. It was already spiraling. Consuming me in flames that licked my veins.
Vaughn rammed his cock one last time, hilting himself inside me as we both screamed out from the pleasure and the pain. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak as the orgasm canvased my skin and numbed my toes.
He pumped his release inside me, only taking our bodies to the bed when he was finished. Complete.
“Mmm. I love fucking you.” He kissed my temple.
I curled my knees against me and rolled toward his chest. “Well, I actually love you,” I teased.
He laughed. “I love you too, smartass. The act and the feeling.” He smacked my bottom playfully.
“You were so deep,” I added. My body was still heated. Still coated in a thin layer of perspiration.
“You ok?” he asked. “Was it too much?”
I shook my head. “You realize if I get pregnant on the first try we aren’t going to have much practice time.”
He laughed. “Now you’re complaining I’m too good at getting you pregnant?”
I giggled. “I didn’t say that.”
I didn’t want to move. I wanted to lie in bed for the rest of the day, but it was Thanksgiving and I was determined to start our real married life with actual traditions. Raise our children in a family that celebrated and came together. We had a long way to go to bring our parents and siblings into the fold, but Vaughn had a plan for that. I trusted him it would take time to make the pieces fit. Timing was everything. Agent Kenneth hadn’t given up looking fo
r both of us.
Although we had left the FBI a gift. It took weeks for us to finally get the information on how the Sunday after we left played out. In those weeks it was hard to think about anything other than whether our planned worked. I had lost another five pounds, unable to eat or sleep.
But my husband was a mastermind. Brilliant, really. Agent Kenneth, unable to find us at the hotel, traced our steps back to the flat. Instead of raiding it, he waited. I always wondered if he had been too exhausted from traveling. Maybe it was an accident, after all. What if he had just happened to fall asleep on our couch? It doesn’t matter, because he was there when Blackwing came for the documents in the wine fridge closet. In one swoop, he got everything: two members of Blackwing and an entire closet full of secret documents. Documents that exposed Blackwing’s plan to target Paul Auclair for the sale of his formulas.
Vaughn had detailed the espionage and Riker’s ultimate use for Paul’s research. Masking drug use. Altering athlete performance. Rigging competition on a national and international scale. It was a huge story no matter where you were in the world. Riker collapsed. Agent Kenneth gained notoriety he wasn’t looking for.
We sailed on, pleased the plan had come together. My only regret was that Eloise wasn’t the one captured. She was still out there.
Vaughn kissed my shoulder. “What can I do to help you with dinner?” he asked.
“We aren’t going back in the kitchen until we both take showers,” I lectured. “You taste like salt.” I licked his chest with the tip of my tongue. “Mmm.” I grinned. “Showers and then I’ll let you mash the potatoes.”
“Got it.” He rolled out of bed and started the water.
I liked our bedroom. There wasn’t a fancy chandelier or vanity that cost two thousand dollars. The furniture was white and most of the décor came from things we bought on the island. I dragged myself out of bed and padded off to the shower, passing my favorite piece of art in the room.
I stopped and stared at it for a few seconds. Aubrey’s signature was scrawled across the bottom. It had been a surprise from Vaughn for my birthday. He wanted to mark twenty-nine with something significant. He knew I couldn’t let Kate Birch go completely. How could I?